I will be flying to Milan from LAX on KLM. The first leg of the flight takes us to Amsterdam. After an hour and twenty-five minute layover, we continue our fight on a smaller KLM plane from Amsterdam to Milan. One of our pieces of luggage will have to be checked in due to it's contents, but the rest will be carry on. My question is, will I have to go to baggage claim and pick up our checked in luggage and go through Customs in Amsterdam or will the checked in piece of luggage be loaded to the connecting plane without me having to retrieve it? Where will I go through Customs Amsterdam or Milan? Will the hour and twenty-five minutes be enough time to complete the process if we do have to retrieve the piece of luggage, go through customs, and re check in the luggage for the next flight? If it is not enough time, I will have to remove items from the bag that was going to be checked in prior to leaving home and make it a carry on. Thanks for your input!
Posted by
Seattle
4637 posts
You will go through immigration in Amsterdam and through customs in Milan. Your checked luggage will be checked all the way to Milan.
Posted by
Basel, Switzerland
8889 posts
I am assuming you have a through booking LAX to Milan. If it is two separate tickets things are different.
Your booked luggage will go straight through to Milan, you will pick it up there and go through customs there.
But, as is pointed out many times on this site many times, it is not customs that takes time, but immigration (passport control). At Milan, you just pick up your bags and walk through the green "nothing to declare" channel. 95%+ of people are not stopped at customs.
Immigration will take place at Amsterdam Schiphol. This is where you enter the Schengen area. You will have your passports checked and stamped. The Schiphol > Milan flight is inside the Schengen area so there is no passport control when it lands.
Expect passport control to take up to ½hour, depending on queues. 1h25 between flights should be enough, and Schiphol is an easy airport (one long terminal). The airline would only have sold the ticket if they thought it was possible. If you miss the connection because of the airline (late incoming flight), they have to put you on the next flight.
Posted by
OP
Placentia, CA
1073 posts
Thanks do much for your replies. I love this site. It sure can take the stress out of the unknown. Thanks again!